The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB)
held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at the DOE Information
Center in Oak Ridge, beginning at 6 p.m. A video of the meeting was made and may
be viewed by phoning the Information Center at 865-241-4780.

John Owsley, Liaison, Tennessee Department of
Environment and Conservation (TDEC)

Others Present

Daniel Axelrod

Becky Brunton, Spectrum

Spencer Gross, Spectrum

Pete Osborne, Spectrum

Nine members of the public were present.

Presentation

Melton Valley Overview

Mr. Skinner’s presentation was a status report
on the remediation activities at Melton Valley (Attachment 1).

He said an area of about 1,000 acres had been
set aside in Melton Valley as a waste disposal site for Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL). About 200 of the 1,000 acres were used for waste management.
Methods of disposal were shallow land burial, liquid waste trench disposal,
seepage pits, and deep well injection.

Mr. Skinner said the work being done under the
Melton Valley Interim Record of Decision (ROD) will be finished on schedule by
September 2006.

The remedy involved three solid waste storage
areas (SWSA) for shallow burial of low level waste, four pits and three trenches
that received liquid low level radioactive waste, and two hydrofracture
facilities for deep well injection of liquid low level waste.

The principal actions were hydrologic isolation
or capping of the SWSAs, which included downgradient collection trenches on SWSA
4 and 5 and storm water diversion trenches on SWSA 4 and 6. Grouting was used to
remediate Trenches 5 and 7, while Trench 6 was capped. The final principal
action was soil and sediment removal at several areas.

Mr. Skinner said remediation and capping of SWSA
4, which encompasses about 30 acres, is complete. That work included the removal
of soils and sediments from the Intermediate Holding Pond. The holding pond
material was disposed at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility
(EMWMF). The former holding pond site is now in the early stage of wetland
development.

SWSA 5, which covers about 50 acres, will be
finished in about a month. The west end has been capped and is covered with
topsoil. The liner has been placed on the east end and is ready for topsoil and
seeding. The downgradient trench has been installed and is operational.

Mr. Skinner said work on SWSA 6, about 40 acres
on the far western end of the area, is complete except for one small action that
was added late in the project. That work should be done in a few weeks.

Work has been completed on hydrologic isolation
of Seepage Pits 2, 3, 4, Trench 6, and the site of a leak from Trench 7.

At the Transuranic Waste Retrieval Project, Mr.
Skinner said removal of all wastes in the 22 trenches is complete except for
Trench 13, which will be remediated at a later date. A flameup of pyrophoric
material during excavation led to the decision to delay completion of Trench 13.
Mr. Skinner said the remediation of the trenches is not part of the Melton
Valley ROD, but is a consent agreement with the state of Tennessee to remove the
material in the trenches and treat it at the Foster Wheeler Transuranic Waste
Processing Facility.

He said the area inside the enclosure at Foster
Wheeler is being prepared for use as a future storage site. The area outside the
enclosure is being graveled for vehicle staging. The remainder of the site will
be recontoured and seeded.

Concerning decommissioning and decontamination
(D&D) activities, Mr. Skinner said liquid removal and characterization of
shielded carriers inside an enclosure at the 7841 Scrap Yard has begun. Material
is being sorted and sent to either EMWMF or an offsite disposal site.

Thirty nine storage vessels have been grouted
and transported from the scrap yard to EMWMF. A hydraulic shear mounted on a
track hoe is reducing the size of scrap. Eight dump trucks have transported
size-reduced metal to EMWMF. Mr. Skinner said cleanup of the scrap yard will be
the last project accomplished in Melton Valley.

Mr. Skinner said demolition continues at the New
Hydrofracture Facility, along with cutting and capping of 112 well heads. Rubble
and wellhead sections are being disposed at EMWMF.

Mr. Skinner said there has been no decision
concerning the main facilities of the Homogenous Reactor Experiment (HRE), but
ancillary facilities surrounding it are being demolished. The shield plugs from
HRE have been removed and the charcoal absorber has been grouted. HRE will be
removed later under a subsequent decision document.

Mr. Skinner said the Shielded Transfer Tanks
remediation has been placed in the Balance of Reservation cleanup scope and will
be postponed to a later date. He said the D1 version of the Post Construction
Completion Report for Well Plugging and Abandonment has been submitted to the
regulators for approval.

The progress of various in situ grouting
activities in Trenches 5 and 7 and the HRE fuel wells are noted on page 17 of
Attachment 1. Almost all activities have been completed or are scheduled for
completion by the end of June.

Concerning the soils and sediments remediation
of Melton Valley, Mr. Skinner said inactive pipeline remediation had been
completed as well as excavation of contaminated soil in the A-106 low level
waste line near Melton Valley Drive. Some excavating, site restoration, and
verification surveys are still underway.

Mr. Skinner said there are no open waste pits
left at ORNL. He said all low level waste pits and ponds have been removed. The
four ponds at the High Flux Isotope Reactor were drained, sediments removed, and
contents hauled to EMWMF. The sediments of the process waste sludge basin were
relocated to the old hydrofracture pond and mixed with those sediments. That
pond has since been grouted and capped. Mr. Skinner said the HRE pond that used
a cryogenic barrier was allowed to melt and the sediments removed.

Mr. Skinner said one of the remaining actions
regarding soils and sediments is to complete the final verification survey. Any
soil found to have contamination levels above the release criteria will be
removed. He said little is being found, probably the result of decay over time.
He said removal of the engineered test facility and lysimeters at SWSA 6 began
the end of May, and site recovery continues at remediation sites.

Mr. Skinner enumerated a number of goals for the
Melton Valley remediation and the status of each goal (Attachment 1, pages
28-32). He said remediation action objectives are noted on the left hand side of
the table, which relate to applicable areas of Melton Valley. The right-hand
status side of the table notes goals that have been achieved and others that
will take time to achieve as a result of remediation activities, such as
lowering of contamination levels in surface and groundwater over time.

For some specific areas of Melton Valley no
decisions have been made regarding remediation, such groundwater, long-life
constituents, sediments in White Oak Creek and White Oak Lake Embayment, HRE,
and the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. Mr. Skinner said the intent was to
determine if the large-source remediation actions worked, and then decide what
decisions should be made for the Melton Valley watershed.

A summary of accomplishments in the Melton
Valley remediation is noted on page 33 of Attachment 1.

Mr. Skinner said the next step in the
remediation of Melton Valley will be completion of the remedial action report
due the first quarter of 2007.

After the presentation a number of questions
were asked. Following are abridged questions and answers.

Question

Answer

Mr. Axelrod
– What is the amount of curies remaining in the remediated areas?

Mr. Skinner
– I don’t have an estimate of the number of curies remaining. With the
remedial investigation of SWSA 5 we had an estimate of about 2 million
curies that had been disposed. That has decayed over time, but I don’t
know what the remaining number is.

Mr. Adams
– You have done a lot of different types of work in Melton Valley. Have
folks at other DOE sites been interested in what has been done here?

Mr. Skinner
– During the SSAB Chairs’ meeting in April, we took them on a tour of
the reservation, and we received a number of comments that indicated
they were impressed with the work that had been done.

Mr. McCracken
– I think there is a lot of recognition across the complex and at the
congressional level of the difficulty of the work that has been done and
what has been accomplished.

Mr. Myrick
– How much money was spent on this project?

Mr. Skinner
– It cost more than we wanted. It’s going to be about $200 million. Let
me put that in perspective. If we were to have removed all the waste and
taken it to a western disposal site, it was estimated to be $1.6
billion. We had some delays due to weather, materials cost us more, and
we wanted to finish in a timely fashion so you pay more for the work.
But we’re pretty close to the original estimate.

Mr. McCracken
– With the exception of the hydrofracture and the incident on Highway 95
(strontium spill), there have been very few bumps in the road on this
job. And I think the money spent to do the work is accountable to the
material and labor.

Mr. Axelrod
– I have suggested that the fifth hour of the lesson plans of the
Stewardship Education Resource Kit cover stewardship, which would
include 25 slides indicating where wastes remain in place. I refer to
the summary of in situ grouting (Attachment 1, page 17), which shows
where and what was done in Trenches 5 and 7. I would recommend a one or
two slide presentation summarizing location of waste, quantifying what
you think is left in place, what is the status, what can go wrong, what
emergency actions would be taken, and what the cost of that emergency
would be. I use Trenches 5 and 7 as an example of that summary.

Mr. Skinner
– We’ll work with the Board concerning how we need to respond to your
comment.

An important part of the remedy for
Melton Valley is the inclusion of land use controls. We’ve just
completed the land use control implementation plan for Melton Valley. It
will be publicly available and will highlight a number of things Mr.
Axelrod brings up. There will be the need for continued monitoring of
the performance of the remedies and making sure they are maintained and
functioning as intended.

Mr. McCracken
– How will we be able to locate each of these things we’ve done so we
can find them in the distant future as we do stewardship?

I would suggest that Mr. Adams come back
in about a year and confirm with a survey that we’ve located these areas
on a grid system, so there is some confidence we have the stuff located
in a manner that we’ll be able to find it with a great deal of
confidence. I think it’s important for the Board to ask that question
and be shown how we do that.

Mr. Adams
– An idea to think about is to use a coded tape that could be inserted
in the ground at these locations and could later be found with an
electronic reader.

Mr. Skinner
– If a land use control is applied to a particular piece of ground, you
have to identify it and place its location in county land records. Part
of the requirement of the land use control implementation plan and the
ROD is to put a notation on ownership records that describes an area of
ground where waste remains. A metes and bounds survey will show where it
is. That is a public record away from DOE and will remain in the public
records indefinitely.

For small areas like pipelines and valve
boxes, if there is ever a thought of transferring that land, DOE is
responsible for notifying any subsequent user what is left in place. For
now, the land record notices would be on the principal source threat –
the SWSAs and the trenches.

Deputy Designated Federal Officer and
Liaison Comments

Mr. McCracken thanked Mr. Trammell and presented
him a clock with a plaque in recognition for his service to the Board. Mr.
McCracken also congratulated the Board and the Stewardship Committee for
receiving the 2006 Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement Award from EPA.
He also thanked Ms. Jones for nominating ORSSAB for the award.

Mr. McCracken discussed proposed changes to the
D&D at K-25/K-27 facilities at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). He said an
information sheet outlining the changes has been provided to the Board and sent
to the regulators for review. He said Jack Howard, project manager for the
K-25/K-27 D&D would address the Environmental Management Committee in detail at
its July 19 meeting on the proposed changes. Mr. McCracken said he would address
the Board about it in general terms at the July 12 Board meeting. Mr. McCracken
said he believed the new approach to the D&D will address the kinds of questions
that are important to the Board, such as how a different demolition approach
will not cause harmful airborne material or would damage equipment that would be
a detriment to cleanup standards. He said he believed the expense of the new
method would be no more than the approved alternative.

Mr. Trammell asked if Mr. McCracken had any
information about the proposed ethanol plant at K-31 and a racetrack at ETTP.
Mr. McCracken said he was primarily concerned with cleanup of the area and had
little knowledge of either proposal.

Mr. McCracken said a memo had been received from
the DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management James Rispoli directing
DDFOs to work with the local SSABs to make sure they are in compliance with the
EM SSAB charter.

Mr. Adler said the D2 version of the engineering
evaluation/cost analysis for the K-1007 Ponds at ETTP has been sent to the
regulators for comment. He said the public comment period on the document should
be coming up in about four weeks. Mr. McCracken added that there are two things
to address concerning the pond – what the remedial action would be and when it
would be done. He felt there was a way to meet everyone’s interest and concerns.
He said DOE needs to know if there are concerns that the ponds may be
recontaminated if a decision to remediate is made prematurely. He said DOE would
be responsive to comments of stakeholders.

Mr. Adler said responses to outstanding
recommendations are in the concurrence chain and should be available for the
July meeting. He gave a brief status of each recommendation:

Recommendation on Independent Verification
at ETTP – DOE is in discussion with Oak Ridge Institute of Science and
Education to conduct independent verification at ETTP. Mr. Adler said that
work should begin in fall of 2006.

Recommendation on the Fact Sheet for the
Explanation of Significant Difference (ESD) for the Molten Salt Reactor
Experiment – Mr. Adler said the fact sheet has been revised and is more
easily understandable. The ESD D1 version has been sent to the regulators
for comment and the public will have an opportunity to comment on the ESD
after the regulators review it.

Recommendation on Long-term Stewardship on
the Oak Ridge Reservation – Mr. Skinner is preparing the response and will
report at the Stewardship Committee meeting on June 20.

Mr. Myrick asked about the status of the Black
Oak Ridge Conservation Easement. Mr. Adler said an interim conservation easement
is in effect for three years. A cost report on the easement has been passed
among DOE and the other NRDA trustees and the conclusion is the compensation for
resource damages is fairly equitable. He said the state recognized that the
capacity of biking and hiking trails in the conservation easement was limited.
DOE has agreed to allow expansion of the area for building hiking and biking
trails. He said a teleconference is scheduled the week of June 19 to finalize
details. Mr. Owsley said the state has issued a management plan for additional
trails and possible canoe access to East Fork Poplar Creek. Mr. Trammell asked
how the work was being paid for. Mr. Owsley said TDEC is looking to DOE for
support of $20,500 a year and an additional $16,300 per year in in-kind support.
He said TDEC may also look to volunteer help for trail building and maintenance.

Ms. Jones said EPA had awarded ORSSAB and the
Stewardship Committee the Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement Award.
During the meeting, the EPA assistant administrator of Solid Waste and Emergency
Response, Susan Bodine, phoned into the Board meeting to offer EPA’s
congratulations on the award. The award is national recognition for individuals
or groups for outstanding achievements in the field of environmental protection.
The award was based on the development of the Stewardship Education Resource Kit
and the process to track contaminated land parcels in county and city property
records.

Ms. Jones said Ms. Cothron and Mr. Trammell will
receive the award at the keynote luncheon on June 29 in Milwaukee, Wis.

She said EPA has approved the removal action
report for the Y-12 Plant East End Volatile Organic Compound Plume
(DOE/OR/01-2297&D1) and concurs with TDEC on the start-up of the Big Spring
Water Treatment System at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Mr. Owsley said he had participated in two DOE
sponsored conferences that included state and tribal government working groups.
He said conferences focused on waste management, cleanup criteria, and long term
stewardship. Mr. Owsley said participants encouraged DOE to focus on maximizing
cleanup efforts and minimizing the use of institutional controls for risk
management. He said the groups also discussed the use of the NRDA to compensate
for lost natural resources and the budget to address the issues.

Mr. Trammell asked how Tennessee is doing
compared to other states in regard to waste disposition. Mr. Owsley said he
believed the state is fairing well. He said some states are waste generators
while others are waste receivers. He said Tennessee is working to treat and
dispose its own waste on site and is open to treating other states’ waste
provided residuals are disposed out of state.

Public Comment

In response to a question about a proposed
racetrack at ETTP, Mr. Axelrod recommended the track be built in Crossville,
Tenn. He provided a recommendation to the Board that the Oak Ridge Reservation
be transferred from DOE to the Department of the Interior, except for DOE plant
facilities (Y-12, ORNL, ETTP, etc.), research areas, and areas designated for
future growth of the existing DOE plants. The full text of his recommendation is
Attachment 2.

Announcements and Other Board Business

The next Board meeting will be Wednesday, July
12, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the DOE Information Center. The presentation will be
provided by EPA Region 4, on “CERCLA, RCRA, NEPA, and Other Regulations.”

Ms. Brunton said she would be conducting a
survey of all Board members in preparation for the annual meeting in August. She
distributed a list of topics she will be covering in the interviews (Attachment
3).

The Nominating Committee consisting of Mr.
Adams, Mr. Dixon, and Mr. Mulvenon was elected unanimously.

The minutes of the May 10, 2006, meeting were
approved.

Committee Reports

Board Finance
– Mr. Dixon said Ms. Halsey had reported
on the carryover from FY 2005. As a result, the Board may have some FY 2006 to
carry over into FY 2007. The technical adviser for ETTP remedial
investigation/feasibility (RI/FS) was discussed. Mr. Dixon asked Mr. Myrick to
report on the technical adviser’s scope of work. Mr. Myrick reported that
Arcadis has been contracted to provide a report on the engineering
evaluation/cost analysis (EE/CA) for the K-1007 ponds at ETTP. This is a change
from the original scope of work, which was to be a study of the RI/FS, but since
that document has been delayed Arcadis was asked to review the EE/CA in the
meantime. He said Arcadis may be asked to begin work on the RI/FS when it is
available.

EM –
Mr. Myrick reported that the committee heard a report on the waste acceptance
criteria and the operation of the underdrain at the EMWMF. He said 1.4 million
cubic yards of material is expected to be disposed at the waste cell. He said
materials going into the waste cell meet the waste acceptance criteria. The
committee will receive an annual update on the operations of the cell.

At its next meeting the committee will discuss a
recommendation on the Integrated Facilities Disposition Plan. It will discuss
any possible comments or recommendations on the 2006 Remediation Effectiveness
Report. The committee will also hear a preliminary review of the EE/CA for the
K-1007 Ponds at ETTP from Arcadis.

Mr. Myrick said a tour of Melton Valley was
cancelled in May. After some discussion June 28 was chosen as the new date.
Stewardship Committee members will also be invited on the tour.

Public Outreach
– Ms. Cothron said preparations are being
made for a booth at the Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge June 16-17. Plastic
bags have been purchased and will be handed out at the festival. Board
representatives will staff the booth from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Representatives of the committee met with Jeff
Smith and Karen Downer in the manager’s office at ORNL. She said another meeting
is set with George Dial, president of BWXT Y-12 to talk about the mission of the
Board.

Ms. Cothron said a new Advocate newsletter is
forthcoming and the stakeholder survey will be mailed soon and will be handed
out at the Secret City Festival. She said the distribution for the survey has
been expanded.

Stewardship – The
committee did not meet in May. A field trip of Melton Valley was scheduled to be
led by Mr. Skinner but had to be cancelled. Another trip has been scheduled in
conjunction with the EM Committee on June 28.

At the June meeting, the committee will hear a
report on an outstanding recommendation on long-term stewardship on the Oak
Ridge Reservation and a report on a long-term stewardship directive. The
directive is the methodology used to get the long-term stewardship plan into
place.

Executive
– Ms. Bogard said committee facilitation will be discussed at the July meeting.
She said the committee decided to make a review of outstanding recommendations a
permanent agenda item for the monthly Board meetings.

Board Process
– Mr. Mulvenon reported for Ms. Reagan. The committee continues planning for the
annual meeting August 12 at Pollard Auditorium. The agenda for the meeting has
been finalized. Board members will be contacted by Ms. Brunton to respond to a
survey concerning the effectiveness of the Board. This is a similar survey as
was done prior to last year’s annual meeting.

Mr. Mulvenon said Ms. Brunton had completed a
survey of membership regarding mentoring. The committee reviewed the report,
which indicated general satisfaction with the mentoring program.

Mr. Mulvenon said the ORSSAB bylaws must be
revised to be in compliance with the EM SSAB charter. Revision of the bylaws
will be on the October agenda.

Federal Coordinator Report

No report.

Additions to the Agenda

No additions.

Motions

6/14/06.1

Mr. Adams moved to approve the agenda. Mr.
Mulvenon seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

6/14/06.2

Mr. Dixon moved to approve the minutes of the
May 10, 2006 meeting. Mr. Myrick seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Action Items

Mr. McCracken will report on the resolution
of comments made by EPA on the K-1007 Ponds EE/CA.Complete.
DOE has responded to comments and a D2 version has been sent to the
regulators.

Mr. McCracken will see if someone from Y-12
can speak to the Board concerning plutonium contamination of uranium.
Complete. The National Nuclear
Security Agency (NNSA) office was contacted and provided the following
information: NNSA has an active project established to ensure that the
appropriate radiological and safety controls are in place to protect the
worker and environment as suspect uranium materials are analyzed to
determine if any detectable level of plutonium surface contamination
exists. The materials are not waste and will be made available for reuse in
national security programs (e.g., Naval Reactors) or in excess highly
enriched uranium projects (e.g., down-blended to low enriched uranium for
reuse). NNSA considers this activity a high priority and will complete this
work in FY 2006 - 2007.

Mr. McCracken will keep the Board informed
on the start date and the estimated cost of completion for new work outside
the accelerated closure plan. Status. Mr. McCracken reported on the
Integrated Facilities Disposition Plan at the May meeting. The plan has not
yet been approved by DOE Headquarters.

Mr. McCracken will report to the Board on
new plans and costs to demolish K-25. Status. Mr. McCracken will
provide a report at the July meeting.

Mr. Skinner will work with the Board to
address Mr. Axelrod’s suggestion for additional slides in the Stewardship
Education Resource Kit.

Attachments (3) to these minutes are available
on request from the ORSSAB support office.